Semiahmoo Hotel’s new owners plan re-opening

New owners of Blaine’s now-closed Semiahmoo Hotel aim to have the business re-opened “at the earliest possible date.”

A newly formed group, Resort Semiahmoo LLC – a subsidiary of Seattle-based Wright Hotels – announced June 21 it had purchased the resort, and its two golf courses, Semiahmoo Golf and Country Club and Loomis Trail, for $19.5 million.

“We hope to hire staff and to welcome guests to a new and refreshed Semiahmoo before the end of the summer season,” said Wright Hotels president Stuart Rolfe.

Last November, Semiahmoo Resort Co. – the former owners of the property – announced it was closing the Semiahmoo Hotel effective Dec. 1, after 25 years of operation. In a news release at the time, the company, majority-owned by the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe, blamed the closure on the collapse of conference-booking business as a result of the 2008 recession.

The hotel had been on the market for several years before the December closure, and was nearly sold in 2010 but the sale fell through.

The new ownership’s immediate focus will be the re-opening of the hotel, while also aiming to make improvements.

“We have a long list of improvements to be made,” Rolfe said.

According to Rolfe, elements of the hotel slated for an upgrade include “a major cleaning of all areas of the resort,” as well as renovated spa and athletic facilities, restaurant improvements and interior-design and architecture upgrades.